Apparatus for producing clear ice cubes



April 13, 1954 w. c. MAGNUsoN ET AL lv2,674,858

APPARATUS FOR RRoDucING CLEAR ICE cUBEs Filed July 26, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 13, 1954 w. c. MAGNusoN ET AL 2,674,858

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CLEAR ICE cuBEs Filed July 26, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 iiarfzfys Patented Apr. 13, 1954 2,674,858 APPARATUS FOR PROIIIJJSUCING CLEAR ICE Willard C. Magnuson,

Palcich and Chest CUB St. Paul, and Anthony D. er A. Weseman,

Austin,

Minn.; said Palcich and said Magnuson assignors to said Weseman Application July 26, 1950, Serial No. 175,942

3 Claims.

This invention relates generally to mechanism for producing ice cubes and particularly to a system constructed to produce and harvest substantially clear cubes.

It has been a problem to produce a relatively inexpensive ice producing machine adapted to produce substantially clear ice cubes and to successfully harvest said cubes.

It is an object of our invention to provide a novel, relatively simple, highly efficient ice cube producing system adapted to freeze substantially clear cubes and to quickly harvest said cubes and collect the same in a suitable storage compartment.

It is another object to provide mechanism for producing substantially clear ice cubes having an inverted mold structure with a number of nozcles positioned thereunder to deliver a spray thereagainst, said mold structure having refrigeration means closely associated therewith and adapted by reverse cycle operation to release the cubes from said mold structure after the same have been frozen.

It is still another object to provide a foraminous chute structure interposed between the spray nozzles and the mold structure to receive the released cubes and deliver the same to a storage compartment. l

These and other objects and advantages of our invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. l is a top plan view of the refrigeration system mounted above the mold structure;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 2 2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken sub,

stantially along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the refrigeration system and controls for operating the same; and Y Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View of the water supply system.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, we provide a freezing chamber 'l having insulated outside walls and constructed to provide a water confining tank 8 at the bottom thereof. In the form shown, said tank has sloping sides which converge at the bottom thereof. At the top of the compartment I is a mold structure S having a plurality of inverted molds I il having closed tops and open bottoms. The bottoms of the molds are substantially smaller than the tops and adjoining sides of adjacent molds are spaced at the tops and converge at the bottoms, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A water supply system is provided which, in the form shown, has a pair of supply conduits l I connected to a manifold pipe I2 and having a plurality of upwardly directed spray nozzles I3, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3. These spray nozzles I3 are adjusted to direct a nely divided spray of water upwardly into the molds It. A pump It, best shown in Fig. 5, having a motor I5, is connected to an outlet pipe at the bottom of tank 3 and receives its water therefrom and discharges the water at a predetermined pressure into the manifold pipe I2 to which the conduits Il are connected. A iioat valve I 6 connected with a suitable source of water supply maintains a substantially constant water level in the tank 8. A refrigeration system having the coils Il and I 8 mounted in close association with the molds l t is provided and is connected to a suitable compressor It having a condenser 2t and expansion valve 2 I.

The discharge line from the compressor is divided into two branches 22 and 23 by the T 24. The branch 22 runs to the condenser 2t which in the form shown is a liquid cooled condenser and extends from the condenser to the expansion valve through a solenoid valve 25. From the expansion valve 2| the refrigerant line 22 is connected to the coils II and I8 by the conduit 26. A suction line 21 is connected to the two coils I1 and I8 and runs to the low side of the compressor I9. The other branch 23 from the high side of the compressor runs to the conduit 2t and is Td thereto on the low side of the expansion valve 2I. A solenoid valve 28 is interposed into the line. A double contact thermostat switch 29 controls the operation of the two solenoid valves 25 and 2B as well as the pump motor I5. Said switch has a pair of contacts 29a and 29h and is thermally connected with the inside of the chamber 'I and is constructed to be responsive for actu- -ation to temperature changes within said chamber. As long as the temperature within the chamber is above a predetermined limit the center contact arm will connect the power source 3B with contact 29a and will hold solenoid valve 25 in open position and will operate the pump motor I5. As soon -as the temperature within the freezing compartment falls below a predetermined limit the switch will swing to close the circuit through contact 29h which will close solenoid valve 25 and will open the normally closed solenoid valve 28. This begins the defrost cycle of The following is a description of the operation` of our ice cube producer. When the pump is operating a finely divided spray of water is discharged from the nozzles I3 and is directed upwardly into the molds i0. The solenoid valve is open and the valve 28 is closed putting the refrigeration system on freezing cycle. AS the spray of water strikes the cold molds i8 thefice freezes from the inside of the molds outwardlyV and the spray of water continuously washes the ice during the freezing thereof to carry off substantially all of the impurities therein, such as air and minerals, which produce the cloudy appearance in conventional ice cubes, to thus produce a substantially clear cube free from said impurities. The two coils Il and i3 produce efficient cooling of the entire mold structure 9 and the substantially clear ice is formed at a relatively rapid rate. When the ice has been formed the temperature in the freezing compartment will be at a substantially predetermined degree at which time the thermostatic switch 29 is set to shift from one position to the other throwing the system on reverse defrost cycle. This opens the circuit through solenoid valve 25 and pump motor l5 to close the valve 25 and shut olf the pump. It simultaneously opens solenoid valve 28 and energizes heating valve 2| to release the cubes from the respective molds Hl. r.he released cubes drop out of the molds onto an inclined foraminous chute 32 which in the form shown is constructed of spaced substantially parallel rods 32a which are interposed between the mold structure 9 and the nozzles i3 and receive the cubes from the molds H) and deliver the same through a spring K closed trap-door 33 formed in the sidewall of the compartment. An insulated storage charnber formed by the casing 3d is mounted to receive the cubes through the trap-door 33 and a hinged` insulated access top 35 is provided.

It should be noted that as the impurities are removed from the water these impurities will become more and more concentrated in the reser- Voir tank and therefore a drain B is providedv to remove the water from the tank, as best shown in Fig. 5.

It will be seen that we have provided a highly efficient fully automatic ice cube producer adapted to produce substantially clear ice cubes by means of an upwardly directed spray into a number of inverted cube molds. When the moldsfare frozen a relatively simple reverse cycle is produced in the refrigeration system to release the cubes from the molds and an inclined forarninous chute discharges the cubes into the storage chamber 34.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts Without departing from the scope of our invention.

What we claim is:

1. Apparatus for producing clear ice bodies comprising a freezing chamber, a mold structure mounted in the upper portion of said chamber. said mold structure including a plurality of closed-topped molds having open bottoms, a number of spray nozzles disposed in spaced relation below saidmold structure and constructed to direct a finely divided spray of liquid to be frozen into said molds, a thermostatically controlled refrigeration system including a compressor, a cold refrigerantfreezing supply line and a hot refrigerant defrosting'supply line, a pair of solenoid valves respectively interposed into said lines, a thermostat. responsive for actuation to temperaturechanges within the freezing chamber and closing one solenoid during the freezing operation and the othersolenoid during the defrosting operation, aliquidcolleotion tank disposed below said mold structure, and a pump controlled by said thermostat for supplying liquid under pressure to said nozzles during the freezing cycle onlin-and means for collecting the cubes-released from the molds during vthe defrosting cycle-.I

2.- Apparatus for producing clear ice bodies comprising a freezing chamber, amold struci turewithin saidchambeigsaid mold structure having-depending side portions, closed topportions and open bottom portions, atomizedsprayproducing means disposed a substantial-distance below the bottom` of said mold structure soas to produce a finely divided spray of liquid to be frozen--and-direct the same upwardly through a substantial air space intosaid mold structure, an inclined cube-receiving and guiding chute dis-v posed below said mold structure and extending completely thereunder, means for successively freezing liquid in said mold'- structure and releasing the frozen liquid from said mold Astructure, said chamberv having `a cube delivery opening-'in communication with said chute for receiving cubes yreleased from said mold structure to be delivered Aout of said chamber.

3.1The'structure set-forth in claim 2, andsaid inclined cube-receiving and guiding chute be.A

ing disposed between said mold structure, and

said atomized spray-producingmeans having anV open area therein disposed above lthe atomizedspray-producing kmeans to permit said finely divided spray to be directed upwardly through said guiding-'chute and provideY an area of clear and unobstructed Af all between the f moldv structure and the chute to permit unobstructed deliveiy of the cubesvonto the chute and down the inclined surface thereof, the open area in said chute being sufficiently small to prevent the cubes from passing therethrough.

References VCited in the file of this patent- UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,540,040 Stewart June 2, 1925 2,063,770 Taylor Dec. 8, 1936 2,063,771 Taylor Dec. 8, 1936 2,145,774A Muly Jan. 31, 1939 2,340,721 Whitney Feb. 1, 1944 2,526,379 Maseritz Oct. 17,1950 2,542,892 Bayston Feb. 20, 1951 2,563,093 Bayston Aug. 7, 1951 2,575,374` Walsh Nov. 20, 1951 2,583,294 EricksonY Jan.- 22, 1952 

